Image Credit: CFJC Today

By James Peters

Snow-clearing budget

City of Kamloops snow-clearing under budget last year — but 2020 is off to an expensive start

Jan 15, 2020 | 2:39 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops came under budget for snow-clearing in 2019, but the picture is already beginning to look grim for the 2020 budget.

Streets and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow says the department ended the calendar year with a $400,000 surplus in its snow-clearing budget, spending $1.5 million of the $1.9 million allotted.

Farrow says with what’s happened already in January, the department may need those extra funds this year.

“Between $300,000 and $400,000 has already been spent in 2020. So even already, the budget is a concern,” said Farrow. “Really, some of those funds from 2019 could be used in 2020 because we very well could be challenged further.”

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Farrow’s department has mandated service levels that it must meet. It must keep certain roads free of snow and passable within set time intervals after a snowfall event ends.

“Everything ties back to our service levels. That’s the focus. If we continue to have icy and challenging conditions, we’ll continue to treat the roads with sand and salt and focus on that. So it’s really more about the service levels than a number or budget focus.”

If the entirety of the budget is not spent, Farrow says it could help appease those who gripe about the potholes in city streets.

“[Any surplus] goes back into general revenue and it will be distributed from there,” said Farrow. “I’m always looking and asking for additional funds for asphalt repairs and different street-focused budgets, but we’ll see how that all gets shifted out in the 2020 budget.”